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Director of SEO

Chicago

In this role, you’ll define and lead the vision for best-in-class SEO strategies across some of the world’s most recognized brands.

As Director of SEO, you are both a strategic leader and a hands-on innovator—able to translate the evolving search landscape into actionable opportunities for clients and the agency alike. You know how to unlock the stories found in data, and translate those stories into opportunities to meet customers wherever they’re searching. You’ll use search insights to craft data-driven strategies that demonstrate a deep understanding of our clients’ businesses, objectives, and customers. You’ll also develop strategic SEO roadmaps and processes to drive measurable results through content strategy, user experience, and a strong technical foundation. 

You’ll play a pivotal role in expanding our SEO services and capabilities, building high-performance teams, and helping our clients achieve top-tier performance.


You Will:

  • Lead the creation, definition, execution, and optimization of holistic search strategies 
  • Represent the Search practice within the agency as a senior strategic thought leader, innovator, and champion for the role of search across the customer journey
  • Hire, manage, and grow a high-performing team of search strategists
  • Serve as an integral part of the account leadership team, making recommendations on strategy and approach to drive innovation and performance
  • Use search data (in conjunction with other research sources) to understand user intent, drive content strategies, and identify business opportunities for clients
  • Pitch and implement new search projects and service offerings 
  • Lead and implement AI Search Optimization/GEO strategies
  • Define success metrics and translate SEO results to business objectives
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to incorporate SEO strategies and best practices
  • Deliver actionable insights and strategic recommendations to clients through insightful, visually compelling reports 
  • Optimize social search channels (e.g. YouTube, TikTok) to maximize brand and content visibility across the digital landscape
  • Integrate paid and organic search strategies and workflows to reduce costs while maximizing key business activities
  • Conduct regular SEO audits and competitive analyses
  • Effectively convey SEO concepts and success stories in a concise and easy-to-understand manner
  • Develop frameworks and processes to systematically track and improve search performance
  • Advise on technical website development to maximize search indexability and visibility, including JavaScript SEO and accessibility considerations
  • Define search-driven guidelines and requirements for page content, copy, page speed, accessibility, indexability, structured markup, site architecture, URL structure, page titles, meta descriptions, headings, anchor text, internal linking, site maps, etc.
  • Monitor, analyze, and report on search results and performance to both internal and external stakeholders
  • Keep current with the latest digital trends and changes in the search marketing landscape, identifying new opportunities for clients (e.g. AI search, ML-driven automation, visual search, voice search, social search, etc.)

You Have:

  • 8-10+ years of search experience, including 3+ years leading high-performing teams
  • Experience leading and managing a team of SEO specialists
  • Excellent written and verbal communication, with strong presentation and data storytelling skills 
  • Track record of driving measurable performance improvements 
  • Ecomm/retail SEO strategy and experience (e.g. optimizing product/category pages), with a systematic approach that has driven measurable results and incorporates 
  • Experience with GEO and AI search optimization for both AI Overviews and LLMs (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI Mode, etc.)
  • Experience with global brands and international SEO, including strategies for multiple regional sites, languages, etc.
  • Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to drive progress and manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously
  • Experience defining and documenting internal processes and best practices to improve SEO implementation 
  • Deep understanding of search engine algorithms, ranking factors, SEO best practices, and technical SEO
  • Proficiency in third-party SEO/SEM tools, such as SEMrush, BrightEdge, Ahrefs, ScreamingFrog, etc.
  • Proficiency in data analytics and visualization tools, such as Google Analytics, Google Data Studio, Adobe Analytics, Google Search Console, Tableau, etc.
  • Experience with GEO/AI search tracking tools, such as Profound, BlueFish, BrightEdge AI Catalyst, etc.
  • Strong Excel skills, including pivot tables, vlook-ups, and comfort working with large datasets
  • Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret data, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions
  • Experience developing and executing content strategies that improve brand visibility, traffic and engagement through content creation and optimization
  • A proactive, self-starter attitude 
  • Experience with testing and leveraging AI tools (ChatGPT, etc.) for SEO tasks and workflows
  • Experience with paid search/SEM, or experience driving integrating SEO/SEM strategies and workflows

What We Offer: 

  • Global maternity and parental leave 
  • Competitive benefits packages
  • Vacation, compassionate leave, wellness days, and flex days
  • Access to online services for families and new parents
  • Early Dismissal Friday’s (off at 3:00 PM local time every Friday)
  • 13 affinity groups
  • Internal learning and development programs
  • Enterprise-wide employee discounts 

The Talent Team at Critical Mass is focused on ensuring we provide the best training, onboarding, and employee experience possible! Our new hires & employees are the future of our organization, and we want to set you up for long-term success. In an effort to do so, we expect our team to work from an office a minimum of 3 days a week.

We continually review ranges to address skills, experience and markets. Base salaries are determined during our interview process, by assessing a number of factors that include, but aren’t limited to, a candidate’s experience and skills relative to the scope and responsibilities of the position. For current CM employees, tenure will also be a consideration.

Salary Range

$120,000 - $150,000 USD

Critical Mass is an equal opportunity employer. 

The Critical Mass Talent Acquisition team will only communicate from email addresses that use the URLs criticalmass.com, omc.com and us.greenhouse-mail.io. We will not use apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Google Hangouts for communicating with you. We will never ask you to send us money, technology, or anything else to work for our company. If you believe you are the victim of a scam, please review your local government consumer protections guidance and reach out to them directly.

If U.S. based: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams#avoid
If Canada based: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/finance/consumer-affairs.html
If U.K. based: https://www.gov.uk/consumer-protection-rights
If Costa Rica based: https://www.consumo.go.cr/educacion_consumidor/consejos_practicos.aspx 

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